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1979
THURSDAY, JULY 26,
26 JULY 1979, Pg 3
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Ambassador to Moscow endorses
SALT, says treaty can be verified
By Lawrence L. Knutson
BALTIMORE SUN
WASHINGTON Despite his initial reluctance, Malcolm Toon, U.S.
ambassador to the Soviet Union, yes-!
terday endorsed the second Strategic
Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II),
calling it "the best that conld have
!
been obtained."
Toon originally said that he might
oppose the treaty on the ground that
Soviet compliance might not be verifiable now that American intelligence posts in Iran have been lost.
However, he said yesterday that the
treaty was both verifiable and militarily sound.
He said that, having received the;
same briefings given President Carter, he had concluded that "no militarily significant violations of SALT i
II could take place without detection."
"I would not be here today to recommend this treaty if I did not believe that," Toon told the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee.
Toon, who has submitted his resig
nation, remains as ambassador pend
ing Senate confirmation of Thomas J.
Watson Jr., a former IBM executive.
A key member of the committee,
Sen. Sam Nunn (D., Ga.), announced
that he could not "in good con
science" support ratification of the
treaty, but he reserved final judg
(See SALT, Pg 3)
SUWftRY
FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
26, 1979 Pg 1
World-Wide
^
CARTER DEFENDED bis handling of
'
Cabinet and staff change*.
In his first news conference in eight 1
weeks, the President said he didn't have any
regrets about his abrupt Cabinet shake-up.
"I felt and still feel I had to make some
changes in our Cabinet to create a new team
to work with me," he declared. He said it
was better than allowing the uncertainty to
drag out.
(See NEWS SUMMARY, Pg
26 JULY 1979, Pg 1
Nunn ties vote on SALT II
g for arms
spendin
to_ '.__:more
'
f v-7
'i * -. . .
;._..
•y CSAMJB *. OGRBORY
Wojfttogtm B**ttmef TRaStai
Sam -VftiBB (D.;
Ga.), whose vote ou MIT H will to* toe of
the most crucial in -the
yesterday tfcal fee "eeibi not bi gocd conseieBGS" IKM& tfes toeatw fsS/em rrssidoet
Outer sipifieaatly listers nodteur and
ccnventkraal «ms program to keep pace
If that is s»t dm*®, Senator Mean cootended, the ftnas-UmUatteo treaty "wffl
become nothing more titan «a iaatrtEnsnt
for registering omergi&g Soviet military
superiority."
The blistering attach by erne of the Sen-t
ate's most respected defense authorities
seemed likely to change dramatteally tt*
contest of the SALT 4eUate. Up to now,
many observers agree, the admirisiration
case has been maktag steady progress'
against opposition titai has often seemed
scattered and fragment*!
It is "atafidaatiy dear" frtim testimony of Harold Browa, the Do&qtm Secretary, and from erereot defsase ftl
ator Nina laid, "that fee Cwto administration is Mt y«t prepared to eooapete effectively wftfc the Scvist Union iu the military arena."
Tte Joint Chi^s oi Staff tow teW**,
he acted, tS»t §ad> c^cetitioc & oeeei*
Tfca "t^n^a o* proof1 is on tte Cwter
the Prwideat's fallow
ad of t toBO«tra»d wimageew of tfeif
and economic <Aoie«j iMcetmry ^ «Dder>
take and siaUto tbat commitoient," Mr.
Nuan ddcar< T eeaki not H» |o*d eonsdenct sopport raaik»Uoa of the SALT II
treaty."
Senator Nuan read hhr carefully
worded Hateanent at a Senate Armri
Serviws Conn^itee hecifag ac the Joint
(See NUNN, Pg 3)
JAMES KIU-INOBCCK, C»ijtf'; 6URKKNT NEWS BRANCH,
WASHINGTON POST
26 JULY 1979, Pg 1
Nunn Ties Vote
On SALT to Mare
Defense
By Robert G. Kaiser
Wasbinsrto*! Fos$ SUH Writer
With a stroke that may have redrawn the battlelines in the SALT
II debate, Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.)
said yesterday that the Carter administration can rfaii his vote for the
treaty by committing itseif to subsantially increased defense spending.
Nunn said he had seen a good case
ior approving the pact but only if it
is accompanied by additions to the
next defense budget of about $7 billion on top of increases already planned by the administration.
By quitting the school o" senators
who criticize SALT II on its merits,
Nunn gave a substantial boost to the
treaty's prospects. He also established
himself as principal spokesman for
me large number of moderate senators
who seem Increasingly willing to aetiept SALT II provided it is accompanied by billions o| dollars in new defense outlays.
Last night, senior administration officials met to discuss how they could
satisfy Nunn's concerns. Informed
sources indicated that the administration is ready to negotiate with the
Georgian.
The White House has long regarded
Niinh's SALT vote as potentially critical, since he has an impeccable record as a proponent of a strong national defense and a reputation for
(See DEFENSE, Pg 3)
OX 78765
HELEN YOUNG, ASSISTANT CHIEF,
SERVICE, OX 52884
AGENCY
EXECUTIVE
CHfEF,
FOR SPECIAL RESEAWOW SERVICES OR DISTRfBUTiON CAL.L HA«RV ZUBKOFr,
' v.fr*
O
WASHINGTON POST
THURSDAY MORNING. 26 JULY 1979
26 JULY 1979 Pg. 5
-
- -
— Q -
S
Carter Opposed to Draft Registration
onto a military procurement bill earlier this year.
WMhtncten Fort SUM Writer
In the past two weeks, however, a
The Carter administration has
of administration officials
variety
voiced strong opposition to a House
letters to the Hill each one
sent
have
18-yearmeasure that would require
the last reflecting at
than
olds to register for possible military stronger
for peacetime
disinclination
a
first
service starting 18 months from now.
opposition.
finally
and
registration,
"This administration opposes peaceShortly before Eizenstat's letter was
time registration for the draft," White
House domestic affairs adviser Stuart sent Monday, Defense Secretary HaE.
E. Eizenstat wrote in a letter this rold Brown wrote Bep. Charles
reof
supporter
a
(D-Fla.),
Bennett
week to congressional critics of the
newed registration, a milder note saylegislation.
ing, "I oppose peacetime registration
We do not believe It is necessary to at
this point."
impose this burden on our nation and
Earlier this month, before a key
its youth at this time whe$ there are
vote on the issue in the
procedural
effective ways to improve the capabilCommittee, Budget DiRules
House
ity of the Selective Service System so
Mclntyre, indicated the
James
rector
it can respond quickly in time of
opposition to regisadministration's
emergency," Eizenstat's letter said.
of a long letter
course
the
in
traton
Administration witnesses; had indi- to the committee chairman
reviewing
cated little enthusiasm for the regis- the impact of the procurement bill.
tration plan during hearings earlier
The registration question has been
this year. But as late as last week
ticklish political issue. Supporters
a
both supporters and opponents of the
worked hard to contest the idea
have
the
of
unsure
measure remained
would be the first step tothis
that
DepartDefense
and
White House
of the draft in
reinstatement
ward
ment's position.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff had come place of an all-volunteer force.
The draft ended in 1973, after years
out in support of peacetime registrapassionate opposition, much of it
of
tacked
was
tion after the proposal
By Felicity Barringer
WALL STREET JOURNAL
26 JULY1979
by antiwar activists of the Vietnam
area.
The latest registration propoaf is
being fought by a coalition of liberals
and conservatives, including 40 members of Congress and such groups as
the American Civil Liberties Union,
Americans for Democratic Action, as
well as by the executive director of
the National Taxpayers Union.
Supporters of registration have re
peatedly called it "an insurance policy." But the effect of the escalating
administration opposition to the bill
"is devastating," Rep. Marjorie S,
Holt (R-Md.) said yesterday.
"The lobbying effort they're putting
forth will certainly have an effect,"
Holt added. The $40 billion procurement bill, with the registration provision attached, had shown considerable
strength when a key procedural vote
was taken on the House floor last
week.
Rep. Richard C. White (D-Tex.), one
of the chief backers of registration.
said yesterday that the White House
opposition "looks a little strange at
this stage ... We hadn't heard from
the White House at all" before this,
he said.
Pg. 17
Nunn Wants Military OiMays Increased
As a Condition for His Support of
Bv a WALK STREET JCWTRNAL Sta/f Reporttr
WASHINGTON-Sen. Sam Nunn handed
the Carter administration some tough conditions for winning his support for the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.
The Georgia Democrat, whose hacking is
considered essential for Senate approval of
the treaty, said he couldn't support the
SALT II treaty unless the administration
agreed to huge increases in military outlays
over the next five years.
Although he stopped short of endorsing
any outright figure, Sen. Nwn spoke *pprovinfh/ of military ertsmtat that fatcreases of V7c to 5% a yew in real outlay
are necessary to meet the advances in Soviet military strength. In current dollars,
this probably would mean annual increases
of $15 billion to $20 billion a year, which
could cause serious budgetary and political
problems for the White House.
Competing With Soviets
Sen, Nunn said the administration's own
budgetary plans and testimony of top officials "make it abundantly GJear that the
Carter administration isn't yet prepared to
compete effectively with the Soviet Union in
the military arena." He added that
"perhaps the administration will significantly change its course," but "the burden
of proof in this regard is clearly on the Carter administration."
Both opponents and supporters of the
SALT treaty tried to take some encouragement from Sen. Nunn's statement SALT
supporters said it provides a foundation for
negotiations between the influential law*
maker and the White House and suggests, if
conditions are met, Sen. Nuns is fully prepared to vote for the treaty. *
But critics noted that while the Carter
administration has pledged to boost defense
spending 3% a year, after inflation, higherthan-expected inflation has reduced the real
rise. Thus, they contend, the administration's current planning comes nowhere near
meeting Sen. Nunn's conditions.
Efforts to satisfy Sen. Nunn, though.
probably would cause trouble for President
Carter both in terms of the treaty and in
presidential politics. Already, several liberal
Democratic Senators are threatening to vote
against SALT as an insufficient arms control measure, and a new commitment for
more military spending would strongly sway
their decision.
Moreover, an already politically troubled
President Carter surely would face added
dtfflcuKtes within key Democratic Party
coMtttaaades if fee tried to significantly indMM (Mnttt spefidteg more wMte damping do«ft m ifcmmHi stcial programs. An
Uicwm fei both areas would jeopardize the
President's pledge to move ctoee to a balanced budget by next year's election.
"Strong Commitment" Sought
Although Sen. Nunn purposefully retained
some flexibility to hit statement yesterday,
he later said fee's 'very serious" about winning a "strong commitment" on this issue.
"They (the administration) have to go much
further," he said. "It all depends on what
they do..."
It's very unlikely the administration
could win the necessary two-thirds vote in
the Senate to ratify the SALT treaty without
Sen. Nunn, espedaUy since Senate Minority
Leader Howard Baker (R, Tenn.), is working against the treaty as it stands. Sen.
Nunn's eventual decision is likely to have a
strong influence on a number of undecided
conservative and moderate Democrats.
Separately, however, the administration's SALT prospects received a boost from
Malcolm Toon, the hard-line former U.S.
Ambassador to the Soviet Union. In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, Mr. Toon said he had resolved
earlier doubts in favor of the treaty and
warned that Senate rejection could create
"a crisis of confidence in U.S. leadership
among our Western allies." He also suggested Senate efforts to rewrite the treaty
would be a "leap of folly" that would be unacceptable to the Soviet Union.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
26 JULY 1979 Pg« 2
US envoy to Moscow
urges SALT approval
Washington
Malcolm Toon, the outspoken US
Ambassador in Moscow, said
Wednesday he would urge the Senate to reject the SALT treaty if he
thought approval would cause the
United States to neglect its strategic
programs.
"If I thought we were going that
route," he told the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee in urging that
SALT be ratified by the Senate, "I
would strongly recommend we reject it. But Mr. Toon, who will soon
be replaced in Moscow, said he was
convinced the American people
would support an increase in defense spending.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
26 JULY 1979 Pg. 2
Shooting of PLO aide
may rekindle assaults
Tel Aviv, Israel
The shooting of Palestinian commando chief Zuhair Mohsen in
France Wednesday threatened to rekindle a savage underground war of
Middle East secret agents that has
left a bloody trail from Cyprus to
Rome in recent years. The guerrilla
chief was said to be in critical condition.
Tho PLO military chief was critically wounded outside his apartment
in Cannes, France. In Netanya, Israel, meanwhile, a bomb planted by
Palestinian guerrillas exploded at a
bus stop, injuring 12 persons. The
blast came only hours before Israel
was to hand ba^k a chunk of the
Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
THURSDAY MORNING, 26 JULY 1979
DEFENSE--CONTINUED
good'political sense. Numerous senators, including a large bloc of south-,
era moderates, are looking to Nunn
for guidance in the SALT debate..
Administration qfficials expressed
satisfaction yesterday with Nunn's
statement, which the senator delivered at th$ Armed Services Commit- i
tee's SALT II hearings. These officials
emphasized Ni<mr,s irmlir-it .su.onort
for the treaty, which he made explicit
to a reporter later, repeating the
proviso that the treaty must be accompanied by accelerated defense spending.
But Nunn's conditions are expensive and could cost the Carter administration painful billions of dollars in
its 1981 preelection budget unless
Nunn moves off the firm position he
adopted yesterday. Tn his statement,
he called for real increases, after inflation, of 4 to ^ percent in the proposed $122.7 billion fiscal 1980 defense
budget annually for the indefinite
future.
Despite the impact on efforts to balance the federal budget on the eve of
a recession, Nunn's proposals seem to
suit an emerging mood at least on the
two Senate committees, Armed Serv-j
ices and Foreign Relations, which
i
have been considering SALT*II.
hearthese
of
out
"What's come
ings," a senior administration official
said last night, "is a much more serious concern about where we stand visa-vis the Russians." The White House
is said to be ready to deal with this
concern by pledging stronger defense
efforts, though there is no eagerness
to go to the numbers Nunn proposed
yesterday.
One administration official said the
senators seem most concerned about.
Carter's commitment to a strong de- j
fense, not Congress's attitude toward i
spending the money. That concern!
will have to be satisfied, this official i
said, "though we may have to break a
few bones around here to do it."
Nunn specifically declined to offer
a shopping list of defense programs
that-'he would require hi return for
his SALT vote. (He did offer such a
list in a speech April 30, without tying!
it directly to SALT II.)
Instead, Nunn said, he wanted a
new "commitment from the president
to the people" that the United States
will go well beyond current plans for
defense spending in the early 1980s.
"Only presidential leadership, can
change these trends/' Nunn said, referring to the steady growth of Soviet
military power compared ,.,|o. y,S,|
I
:, v
'
power.
1
pro|
.),
(D-Colo
Hart
Sen. Gary
s
Service
Armed
of
r
membe
SALT
committee, replied in a statement that
the treaty should not be blamed for
"deep divisions in our society" , that
have held down defense expenditures
-i
'' ,
in recent years,
Sen. John C. Culver (D-Iowa), another SALT supporter, said the "same
voices" who have insisted on a balanced federal budget are now asking
for military programs that could create a $60 billion budget deficit.
Nunn's statement was the high
point of yesterday's SALT hearings,
in which the Joint Chiefs of Staff continued to answer senators' questions.
Critics of the treaty asked the
chiefs numerous questions about thenearlier statements that the United.
States would lose "essential equivalence" with the Soviet Union in the
NUNN
CONTINUED
the treaty, arguing that it would restrain
the Soviet buildup and leave the U.S. free
to do what it needs to assure nuclear parity
Malcolm S. Toon, U.S. ambassador to
Moscow, fully endorsed the pact in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee yesterday, saying his anxieties
about ability to detect Russian cheating
had been removed by official briefings
here on American monitoring systems.
Those who think, as several senators
do, that the United States could renegotiate the treaty and get a better deal are
"profoundly wrong," Mr. Toon said. Such'
an effort would "unravel" the treaty to
American disadvantage.
In his attack, Senator Nunn was careful
to say he would "reserve final judgment"
on how to vote until he hears more witnesses. But be laid down criteria for the
administration that will be extremely exacting.
Were the President to add the $6 billion
or $7 billion to the next defense budget
implied by Senator Nunn's demands, Mr.
Carter would face severe attacks from liberals in the Democratic party in the £980
election year.
Senator Nunn, noting current defense
spending is not up to levels promised by
the administration, said he "hoped" the
executive branch would let the Senate examine the fiscal 1981 budget and five-year
defense plan before a vote is taken on
SALT II.
That would be awkward. The budget
normally is completed in December and
sent to Congress in January. The Senate
plans to vote on the arms treaty long before then.
Mr. Nunn made it clear he will not be
satisfied by generalities. "Only presidential leadership can change this situation," he told reporters.
He made public figures indicating that
the defense budget for fiscal 1980, the
year starting October 1, will show spending growth of just 1.2 per cent on top of increases to offset inflation. The original
target was 3.1 per cent. The original inflation estimates were "absurd," Mr. Nunn
said.
While the Joint Chiefs of Staff have testified that the budget does not meet requirements to set the military balance
with the Soviet Union right or to meet
commitments to the Western alliance, the
senator said, Secretary Brown has given
no testimony suggesting "these disturbing
budget trends will not continue."
Senator Nunn essentally was asking the
administration for proof thaj H will do
what it keeps saying the treaty permits it
to do, and also that it will attend to the
balance of conventional military forces
not covered by SALT H. His summary of
military leaders' advice to the Senate was:
early 1980s, hopefully regaining it by
the mid-1990s. Responding carefully,
the chiefs several times said they
thought the Soviets would have all advantage over the United States in this
period.
After the lunch break, Gen. David
C. Jones, chairman of the joint Chiefs,
sought to redress What he evidently
thought was an overly gloomy impression by emphasizing that .throughout
the 1980s the United States would retain the power to deter a nuclear attack or to retaliate successfully if attacked.
A staff writer, Waller Pmcu*, co»
to this article.
SALT — CONTINUED
ment pending an administration
commitment to increase spending on
defense projects.
Nunn's position is expected to influence some of his colleagues because he is viewed as a serious and
astute student of military affairs. He
has been publicly uncommitted in
the past.
In other testimony, Helmut Sonnenfeldt, once a State Department
deputy to former Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger, said he believed it
essential that Congress, before ratifying the treaty, "firmly establish"
programs to deploy the mobile MX
missile and to remove doubts about
the transfer of U.S. Cruise-missile
technology to European allies.
Toon gave these arguments for
Senate ratification:
"I think it will introduce a substantial element of stability in our
relations with the Soviet Union.
"In my view it is important that
the treaty places equal ceilings on
the strategic arsenals of both sides,
thereby ending a previous numerical
imbalance in favor of the Soviet
Union.
"It preserves our options to build
the forces we need to maintain the
Strategic balance.
"It enhances our ability to monitor Soviet actions and it is adequately
verifiable an essential feature in
any agreement with the Soviets since
we cannot rely on good will.
"It leads directly to the next step
in controlling nuclear weapons and
establishes a basis for further cooperation with the Soviet Union in this
important field."
Toon said U.S. negotiators could
not have gotten a better deal from
the Soviets on any specific issue
covered by the treaty "without having to pay an unacceptable price in
another part of the agreement."
"If you believe that the United States
will undertake and vigorously pursue the
military programs necessary to reverse
the current shift in the balance of power,
you should ratify SALT II. If you believe
SALT H will serve as a tranquilizer which
will prevent our nation from taking the
necesssary steps... it should be rejected.
"In my view," Senator Nunn said, "the
administration already appears to have
succumbed to... the tranquilizer effect."
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
MONITOR, Pg 2
26 JULY 1979
19 'boat people' rescued
by Seventh Fleet oiler
Manila
made
has
Fleet
Seventh
The US
its first rescue in the South China
Sea under the new presidential orders to give Vietnamese refugees all
possible assistance, a fleet spokesman said Wednesday.
A fleet oiler found a boatload of 19
refugees about halfway between
Vietnam and the Philippines late July
24. The ship's destination was not
disclosed/Vietnam has condemned
the United States and Italy for sending rescue ships as part of a psychological war against Hanoi aimed at
prolonging the refugee exodus.
THURSDAY MORNING,
BALTIMORE SUN
26 JULY 1979
>6 JULY 1979
Pg- 8
Egypt gets 75-mile strip of Sinai
in second phase of Israeli pullout
Bir Nasseb, Egypt (AP)-Egypt
hoisted its flag over this desert oasis yesterday and resumed control oi a 75-milelong strip of Sinai territory controlled by
Israel since the 1967 Mideast war.
Military bands from both countries
played their national anthems, and honor
guards stood at attention under a blazing
desert sun during a brief ceremony marking the second phase of the five-part Israeli withdrawal from Sinai.
An Egyptian soldier kissed the red,
white and black flag, then raised it over
this town, which was decorated with banners and giant portraits of President
Anwar el Sadat. The town is near Abu Rudeis on the Suez coast.
Under the peace treaty signed in
March, two-thirds of Sinai territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war
will revert to Egyptian control by next
January in the current five-stage withdrawal. All of Sinai vail be under Egypt's
jurisdiction by 1&82
Simon Peres, the Israeli opposition
leader, met with Prime Minister Mustafa
Khalil to discuss the present round of Mideast peace negotiations. Those talks deal
with Palestinian autonomy in Gaza and on
the West Bank of the Jordan River. Mr.
Peres called on Palestinians to join the
peace process.
"In the Camp David agreement, there
is a say for the Palestinians, and there is a
say for the Jordanians," Mr. Peres said.
He .said the West Bank Palestinians are
"for all practical and legal reasons citizens of Jordan."
The 2,400-square-mile piece of Sinai
territory returned yesterday is a mostly
barren coastal plain, stretching 75 miles
WASHINGTON POST
26 JULY 1979 Pg. 28
NEWS SUMMARY — CONTINUED
The President was especially firm in denying that his newly elevated Chief of Staff
Hamilton Jordan will have undue influence
over policy. Labeling accounts of the decision "grossly distorted," Carter said Jordan
"won't be chief of the Cabinet."
The tough talk from, the President ap­
peared to be a calculated display of his
so-called "new style" of firmness and
decisiveness.
Carter also called on Americans to force
the Senate to pass his "windfall" profits tax
on oil companies. The Senate, without a
message from voters, would succumb to
pressures from the "oil lobby," he said.
Earlier, the White House announced that
Hedley Donovan, retired editor-in-chief of
Time Inc., was named by the President as a
senior adviser. The White House said Donovan would report directly to Carter rather
than through Jordan.
» * *
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS for two
Cabinet appointees got under way.
HUD Secretary Patricia Harris told the
Senate Finance Committee she won't disagree with the White House if she becomes
successor to HEW Secretary Califano. Once
a policy decision is made, she said, "I won't
argue." She ducked questions on welfare overhaul and national health insurance, but
supported Medicaid funding for abortions
and the antismoking campaign.
Califano was dumped in last week's
Cabinet shake-up, largely because of his
independent style and run-ins with White
House aides.
The Senate Judiciary panel began hearings on the nomination of Deputy Attorney
General Benjamin Civiletti to succeed Griffin Bell as Attorney General. Most committee members said they intend to back Civiletti's nomination in a vote later this week
* # *
or next.
SOME AMTRAK ROUTES were given a
reprieve by the House.
In approving a three-year, $2.5 billion authorization bill, the House voted to trim the
rail system by about 5,000 miles, or 18%.
That was far less than the 43% cut proposed
by the Transportation Department. The bill,
which now goes to the Senate, would retain
about half of the 16 Amtrak routes the administration wanted to eliminate.
along the Gulf of Suf-i <tn<i exten-,iiujj ;>0
miles inland to a mouuain taagr u» v,esifern SUT*U.
The region's only residents are about
4,000 Bedouin Arabs. Sheiks irom various
Bedouin tribes observed the transfer ier*k
mony from a platform erected nearby.
The sector is known in Israel as the 'oil
corridor" because Israel's Suez oil wells
are located off its coast. Under treaty
provisions, Israel keeps the welis, which
provide n third oi its oil i-eatis, until
November
No United Nations soldiers were in
sight during the flag-raising ceremony
The mandate of the U.N Emergency
Force, which has been stationed in Sinai
since 1974, expired yesterday morning, although a U.N. spokesman said it would
take six weeks for the 4.000 peace-keeping
troops to dismantle their camps end
Increased train ridership during the
gasoline crunch enabled Amtrak's de­
fenders to block some of the passengerservice cuts.
# * *
ISRAEL TURNED OVER more of the
Sinai land it captured from Egypt in 1967.
Ceremonies marking the return of the 75mile-long strip of territory to Egypt were
held at Bir Nasseb near Abu Rudeis on the
Suez coast. It was the second phase of the
five-part Israeli withdrawal called for in the
peace treaty with Egypt.
The Israeli pullout came only a day after
the mandate for the UN peacekeeping force
in the Sinai expired. The U.S. and Soviet
Union want to replace the troops with unarmed UN observers, but Israel prefers a
non-UN force.
Under treaty provisions, Israel will
keep the oil wells in the sector it handed
over until November. The wells provide
about a third of Israel's needs.
A Palestinian guerrilla leader was critically wounded in the head by gunmen in
Cannes, France. Zuhair Mohsen, chief of
PLO military operations and head of its Syrian-backed Saiqa wing, was said to be in
"hopeless condition." The PLO blamed the
attack on Israel, but diplomats cited disputes among guerrilla factions.
* * *
SALT II suffered a blow when Sen. Sam
Nunn (D., Ga.) said he couldn't back the
treaty unless the White House agreed to
huge defense-budget boosts. Nunn's backing
is seen as crucial to winning Senate approval of SALT II. But Carter would encounter severe budget and political problems if
he tried to meet Nunn's conditions.
* * *
All Nicaragua's private banks were nationalized by the five-member revolutionary
junta. The junta also barred foreign banks
from operating local checking and savings
accounts. One junta member assured the
business community that the bank actions
don't indicate "the start of a chain of indiscriminate nationalization."
# # *
Sen. Edward Kennedy issued his own energy plan in a move that made him look
even more like a presidential candidate. His
$58 billion program features grants to residential, commercial and industrial users for
Begin Needs
Total Rest
Reuter
JERUSALEM, July 25 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin's condition was
described today as unchanged
by doctors treating him for a
small blood clot in his brain.
But relatives, officials and
friends have been asked to refrain from visiting Begin to
ensure his complete rest.
Begin was admitted to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital
July 19 suffering from dizziness and vision problems.
His doctors said today that,
at this stage, "complete rest
is the best medicine."
Earlier, Begin received anticoagulant treatment.
energy-saving efforts. The Massachusetts
Democrat insisted his plan was intended to
complement, rather than rival, President
Carter's proposals.
* * *
Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. of California
will announce formation of an exploratory
committee for his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, a political
aide said. Tom Quinn said in San Francisco
that the committee "will be formed in the
first half of next week."
* * *
A United Airlines DC10 made an emergency landing in Cleveland after one engine
was closed down because of excessive vibration. The plane was en route to Newark,
N.J., from Los Angeles. DClOs were returned
to service two weeks ago after a 37-day
grounding for safety checks.
* * *
A U.S. Seventh Fleet vessel picked up 19
"boat people" about 100 miles west of the
Philippines, the Navy said. It was the fleet's
first rescue since President Carter ordered
it to help refugee boats in distress.